SNOW BUNTING in SoCal???

Not much of a bird, from my first view of a SNOW BUNTING, eh? This oddly out-of-place bird would likely rather be in the northern plains or tundra, and instead?

She was behind the right-field fence of Mike Evans Field in Ross Field Park in San Diego, CA.

Apparently content with finding seeds in the outfield, the Snow Bunting was found on Saturday morning, and has caused quite a stir among Cali-birders - and non-birders. With this post, birders began showing up from around the region.

Subject: Female snow Bunting, San Diego
From: Stan Walens
Date: Sat, 2 May 2009 13:32:49 -0700

I'm out the door in 10 seconds.
A female snow bunting, i.d. confirmed by Paul Lehman, was found today
at Robb Field in San Diego.
This is near the San Diego River.
It is there now.

Stan Walens
SD

I was on my way to San Diego on work(!), preparing to stay with friends. On a short break at a rest stop south of Camp Pendleton on the Five, I connected on the web to see if anything was going on in the birding world of San Diego.... Yikes!

I found the park, after wandering around several interchanges - knowing all the time I where I wanted to be.... I just couldn't "get there from here", and ran into two birders who had just seen the Snow Bunting.
Aimed in the right direction, I was finally flagged down by yet another avid birder from Carlsbad, who finally pointed me in the right direction. In the above photos, our bird has hopped through the fence, and is seed-hunting in a dirt parking lot. NOT the activity usually associated with such a first-time bird for San Diego County.

Back on the right-field fence, the Snow Bunting has officially been tagged as the "500th" bird recorded in San Diego County - more than any other county's total in the ol' USofA. And hey, I was there!

It was seen on a ball-field, right? Here she is, rounding third, and I hope - headed for home!

[You HAD to see that one coming, didn't you!?!??!!]


MORE photos (how many Snow Bunting photos are enough?) on my Flickr Site.